Games like Total War Rome II or Ryse Son of Rome for the Xbox seem to have brought antiquity into gaming more stunningly and realistically than ever. But once you're fed up with all the visual gorgeousness, what's left of long-term enjoyment and true immersion into the ancient world? Not much. Nothing against high resolution massacre and panoramic real-time battles, but depth, "soul" and historical feeling are things, which many players rather look for in turn-based strategy games.
However: founding cities, governing empires, conquering the world - we all know that. What should be expected new in a turn-based strategy game set in antiquity? Pie's Ancient Europe got the answer, a user-made, free modification for Civilization IV. Some commercial developers may just dream about this degree of atmosphere, playability and amount of innovative features. Here are just a few examples of the things you can do in PAE:
Spread food resources such as dates, olives, grain and wine strategically - starting with only one single resource, you found on your territory or that you traded from another player - and thus re-enact the agricultural development of ancient empires.
Promote your units in a new way: While they autopromote according to the terrain, in which they gained combat experience in, and automatically grade up according to their level of experience, you're still able to develop them the way you like. You may settle your battle-hardened veterans in provinces and reactivate them when needed. You might also let them rise up to legendary status and eventually become a hero, for example by killing an enemy unit, that already has that hero status.
Do not only fight barbarians and other civilizations but also the inner dangers of your empire: faithless generals, province governors going berserk, religious tensions, mutinying troops, rebellious slaves, renegading vassals, suddenly appearing mercenary armies some unknown enemy has sicked on you. Will the leader of those mercenaries reveal under torture which of your opponents is responsible for this band of mercenaries in your territory? Then pay him back by hiring your own mercenary army on his territory to destabilize him from within. But maybe the Gods themselves will punish him with a devastating natural disaster: witness tsunamis, meteorits, volcanos, locust and plague wreaking havoc on his empire - or yours.
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